There's good news from Washington: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is getting serious about regulating toxic compounds. The agency is reviewing available options, creating a list of high-priority chemicals to target, and considering an expansion of existing rules in order to control substances that threaten public health. These moves come even as Congress readies new legislation that would enhance the EPA's ability to take precautionary action.

Currently, toxic chemicals in the United States are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. This law requires the EPA to maintain a list of so-called "existing" chemicals, whose grandfathered use is permitted. Any manufacturer who wants to manufacture or import chemicals not included on this list must first notify the agency, which then reviews the case and can restrict or ban the substance in question if serious problems are found.

Critics, however, say the TSCA is riddled with loopholes and flaws that have allowed most chemicals to escape scrutiny, and that it requires the EPA to surmount an almost impossible series of hurdles before a compound can be regulated.

The statute also fails to require that chemical companies test new chemicals, which means there's usually no data for the EPA to collect and study. Since the agency typically lacks the funding to conduct its own testing, the result is inaction on a broad scale. In the 33 years since the TSCA was passed, the EPA has sought tests on only 200 of the over 82,000 chemicals in production, and banned just five.

Now authorities are seeking to change all that. In a speech to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on September 29th, 2009, EPA head Lisa Jackson announced an extraordinary series of new principles to guide the development of new, stronger chemical laws.

These principles call for the EPA to be given the authority to make regulatory decisions based on scientific assessments that reflect the need to protect human and environmental health. Manufacturers should supply the agency with the information necessary to prove that both new and existing chemicals do not endanger the public or the environment. This information should address specific potential risks to sensitive groups like children. When manufacturers do not submit this information, the EPA should be legally permitted to demand it, and it should be allowed to revisit chemicals already approved as needed.

The principles also say the EPA should have authority to take action when chemicals do not meet safety standards and should take into account considerations like children's health, social benefits, and equity concerns. It should be permitted to prioritize chemicals for review and set clear deadlines for compliance. Stricter requirements should be established for manufacturers who wish to hide "trade secrets" from the agency and the public, and health and safety data should always be disclosed.

Even without new laws that move these principles forward, the EPA is taking action. According to InsideEPA.com, toxics chief Steve Owens says the agency is developing plans to take existing TSCA regulations as far as it can and has drawn up a list of chemicals to address immediately. These chemicals include bisphenol-a (BPA), phthalates, brominated flame retardants, nonstick perfluorinated compounds, certain petroleum lubricants, and benzidine dyes.

Meanwhile the toxics front is also heating up in Congress, where Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Bobby Rush (D-CA) are writing new chemical regulation legislation to be introduced before year's end. Senator Lautenberg, and Representatives Waxman, and Hilda L. Solis (D- CA) have also introduced the Kid-Safe Chemical Act, which would protect Americans, especially children, from toxic chemicals in consumer products. The bill would require the compounds used in baby bottles, children's toys, and other items be proven to safe before they can be sold.

Seventh Generation supports this Act, and has teamed with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a diverse nationwide coalition comprised of environmental groups, health professionals and others working to get it passed. You can learn more about Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families at www.saferchemicals.org

Elsewhere, Senator Al Franken (D-MN) and Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) have introduced legislation that would require cleaning products to disclose all their ingredients on product labels.

Together these moves add up to a nascent sea change in the way chemicals are controlled in the U.S. By embracing the the Precautionary Principle and placing public and environmental health before economic and other lesser concerns, they have the potential to create a much cleaner and healthier world. And that's the formula for which we've all been waiting.

For learn more about current efforts to rein in toxic chemicals, visit Safer States and the Environmental Working Group.

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